Mother's Blinkers
by Night's Darkness
Summary: Sometimes mothers forget that it's not just their children who need looking after. And sometimes the children have to be the ones to fix that. From 500 prompts on LJ: "Between a rock and your mother" with Jack/Ianto/Martha friendship plus Francine Jones.


**Title: **Mother's Blinkers

**Fandom:** Torchwood

**Rating: **PG –maybe.

**Prompt: **266. "Between a rock and your mother" from 500 prompts on LiveJournal with Jack/Ianto/Martha friendship with a side of Martha's mum.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own, nor am I gaining any money for this work. I'm just trying to enjoy myself.

**Summary: **Sometimes mothers forget that it's not just their children who need looking after. And sometimes the children have to be the ones to fix that.

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><p><strong>Mother's Blinkers<strong>

"I think I embarrassed Ianto earlier." Martha admitted as Jack handed her some whiskey. It was late, and things were settling down after the debacle of Owen's resurrection.

"How? Can I do it again? He's adorable when he blushes." Jack grinned at her.

"I told him about the UNIT cap."

"Aw, you didn't! I was gonna surprise him." Jack sighed.

"Sorry. I didn't think. I was just… he's a tough nut to crack and I didn't know what else to say to him."

Jack waved the apology away, "Doesn't matter, I'll think of something else. And you're right, Ianto's hard to get to know. But once you do…" Jack's grin widened. Martha smiled to see that look on his face. Then she said quietly,

"You know… I told mum about him."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She worried you wouldn't have anyone to look after you."

Jack's eyes softened at the words, and his grin became more genuine. "I'm grateful."

"Anyway… we… may have a slight problem."

"What?"

"Mum might've… pestered me into giving her Ianto's mobile number."

Jack frowned for a minute, then paled, "Oh no."

Martha nodded with wide eyes. "Yep. She wants to… make sure Ianto knows to treat you right."

"Did you mention that Ianto knows how to do nothing else?"

"I did. But I may also have mentioned his age. Mum's doubtful that a man that young would know how to look after a plant. Leo's older than Ianto and he's still not used to minding his kid."

Jack considered this for a moment, then as one, he and Martha jumped from their seats and went looking for Ianto.

They found him in the Tourist Office, pale, deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face, his phone resting against his ear. Even from a distance Jack and Martha could hear the stern voice of Francine Jones talking down to him. Jack did not even hesitate, he plucked the phone from Ianto's slack hand, and spoke into the receiver,

"Hi Francine, Jack here. Let me reassure you right now Ianto is taking very, very good care of me and you have nothing to worry about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to reassure him of that too. Bye!" He hung the phone up and crouched in front of Ianto while Martha rested her hands on Ianto's shoulders.

"Ianto?"

Ianto blinked and said slowly, "I feel like I was just verbally bitch-slapped."

Jack let out a laugh of relief, but cut it off when Ianto turned angry eyes on him. "I do take care of you as best I can! I'm sorry if that isn't good enough for a woman I've never met."

Ianto got to his feet so fast Jack nearly fell backwards. Martha rushed to grab Ianto's arm.

"Oh Ianto, don't let my mum upset you. She's just over protective of Jack."

"Who gave you the right to give her my number?" asked Ianto shortly. Martha was brought up sharp.

"I… she…"

"You're supposed to have saved the world, if the 'subtle hints' Jack's been dropping are any indication… and you can't stand up to your mother like an adult?"

"Ianto you don't understand-" Jack started, before realising he had said the wrong thing.

"You're right, I don't. Because I'm not in the 'end of the world survivors' club, am I?" Ianto's eyes flashed with anger. "You two can have your little club, which I can gather is a subset of your 'We love The Doctor for no adequate reason' club. But I won't be spoken to like a child, or someone who does not care."

Ianto walked out of the Tourist Office, out to the bay, leaving Jack and Martha speechless. Finally, Martha coughed and said, "I would say that he's probably just stressed because of Owen and my mum but… that sounded like something else. Have we really been that bad?"

"I didn't think so." Jack looked at her feeling annoyed, "So what if we have inside jokes? That's what friends do!"

Martha nodded, "Yeah… but maybe we've been enjoying it too much. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather the whole year that never was hadn't happened but…" Martha flushed, "There is something… I dunno if amusing is the best word, about no one getting our jokes and references."

"It's reassuring." said Jack quietly. "To know that someone else out there… understands."

Martha nodded, "It is. But… maybe we took it too far. Does Ianto know what happened to you?"

Jack shook his head, "Not exactly. I think he has suspicions and educated guesses. But I've never told him any specifically. I can't."

Martha sighed and sat down at the desk of the office. "Do you think you should talk to him?"

Jack considered it. "Nah, let him walk it off. He's still angry about Owen and this probably just pushed him over the edge."

Martha looked doubtful, but nodded, "Ok."

Jack nodded, wishing he felt as confident as he sounded.

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><p>Two days later, Ianto was still angry. He hid it well, but was refusing to talk to Jack beyond work issues. Jack felt he was being overly sensitive. So he cornered Ianto in the small kitchenette and<p>

"Look Ianto, I know that she probably gave you an earful, but-"

"It's not about that." Ianto scowled at him.

"Buh?" replied Jack elegantly. Ianto set down his mug and folded his arms, turning to face Jack fully.

"Mrs. Jones spoke to me like I was a child, some idiot kid who knew nothing about the awful things that have happened to you. It's one thing to be embarrassed in front of Martha over a stupid red cap. But I am not a child, and I won't be spoken down to. I may not have seen the end of the world, however that happened, but I saw the collapse of my own world and all my friends died in front of me. But that doesn't seem to matter in the grand scheme of Captain Harkness, or so Mrs. Jones insisted."

Jack had to admire Ianto's ability to make him feel about two inches tall. He realised that while he had talked about Ianto to Francine, maybe he had focused too much on the appeal and none of the reasons Ianto was so desirable to him. It wasn't just his blue eyes, his cute nose, his arse in suit trousers. It was the strength he had shown after the trauma of Canary Warf had hit him finally. It should have dragged him down to insanity and death, but instead he had drawn power from it and pushed forward. It was something Jack had wanted to find himself, and had hoped to learn from Ianto. He felt like every trauma had just weakened him.

Jack sighed and reached out, ignoring Ianto pulling away he pulled the Welshman into his arms and buried his nose in Ianto's neck.

"I'm sorry she said that. I'm sorry I didn't make it clear to her that you were the exact person to trust with my care because you've seen the same awful carnage that I have."

Ianto, if it was possible, stiffened even more as the memories came back. "I may not have died over and over again but-"

"I know that. And you know that. And I'll make sure Francine knows it too. She's just protective."

"Lucky you." said Ianto bitterly. Jack sighed as he remembered something Ianto had mentioned. His mother had been unavailable to him for most of his life, locked in her own head, and his father had been so immersed in his job. Jack lifted his head and kissed Ianto softly, barely brushing his lips. Ianto relaxed slightly, almost reluctantly. Jack pushed forward and deepened the kiss. After a moment he leaned back and said,

"What would you say to me taking care of you tonight? Seriously, I'll organise the food, the entertainment, everything."

Ianto's lips quirked up a little. "I suppose that's a start to an apology."

Jack gave him a crooked smile, "She really gave you a talking to."

"Let's just say… I'm glad I'm in Cardiff and she's in London. I have some chance of fleeing if she ever turns up."

Jack laughed and kissed him again.

"Oh! Sorry boys." said Martha doubling back as she came into the kitchen and saw them.

"It's ok Martha, what did you need?" asked Jack, keeping a hand on Ianto's arm.

"I just wanted to say sorry to Ianto. I've talked to my mum and she's sorry."

"I assume I shouldn't hold my breath for an actual apology though?" said Ianto with an arched eyebrow. Martha flushed.

"From my mum? Nope."

"Fair enough." Ianto looked at Jack, "So that means double the work for you then."

Jack gave a wicked grin, "I'm sure I can think of something to make up for it."

Martha giggled.

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><p>Two weeks later, Ianto received a package.<p>

It was a red UNIT cap. But there were also two tickets to a nice hotel on the other side of Wales. A message was pinned to the hat.

'_For emergencies only. Like if my mother comes to town!' _

Ianto smirked.

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><p>As with all these prompts I'm not sure if this was the result the requester was hoping for. But I hope it was enjoyed nonetheless.<p>

Night's Darkness


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